Illinois Football: 5 observations from the Illini win over Toledo

5. A win is a win, Illinois is 1-0

It is the next morning, and I still haven’t come down from the high of the game on Saturday night. What a crazy roller coaster of emotions.

That first drive was beautiful. I even said out loud that this team looks different. They quickly regressed back to the mean, though. The panic meter started rising quickly when the Illini were down 12-7 at halftime. It was an ugly touchdown allowed at the end of the first half.

Illinois opened up the second half allowing another touchdown. The panic meter went through the roof. Uh oh, are we about to fall to Toledo? Then a pick-six happens, and the excitement level goes skyrocketing.

The Illini were up 27-22 with Toledo driving. We then stopped them on 3rd and 14, and there was a chance we could end the game right there. But a penalty extended the drive and enabled Toledo to score. The panic meter exploded.

On 4th and 3, Luke Altmyer chucks the ball up in the face of a defender because our right tackle can’t stop the spin move. The feeling goes from panic to sadness because the odds of this being a catch were slim. And then Casey Washington comes to the rescue. His catch extends the drive, and then Illinois kicks the game-winning field goal.

This emotional roller coaster was filled with so many dumb mistakes. Illinois gave up a football field of penalties, one of which about cost us the game at the end. Altmyer threw a ball into blatant double coverage for an interception.

Illinois’ offensive line didn’t look good at times. We dealt with injuries, and we couldn’t block anyone. The vaunted defensive line was picked apart throughout the entire game as well. They couldn’t stop Toledo’s running attack.

Despite all of that. Despite the emotional roller coaster and a lot of things to fix in a short week, Illinois still came away with a victory. In the grand scheme of things, none of it matters. The goal of football is to win games. We are 1-0. On to Kansas.